Friday, September 28, 2007

I've been searching Youtube and Imeem for a couple of days now looking for the song or video to accompany this post, but I'll just have to do without it.

I'd like to share a story I USED to know that recently came to mind.

Rev. Clay Evans tells a story of a father and son who were out fishing (I think) and the son slipped in the water and started to drown. The father of course, became frantic...moreso because he couldn't swim either.

Rev. Evans pauses in the telling of the story to say, "you know how it is to want to do something for your child but CAN'T"

The father looked around and found a rope and tossed one end of it to his child. The struggling boy took hold of the rope and the father began to pull him in, BUT the rope began to break...the rope began to break...hope began to fail!!!

The father begame afraid again, as well his son. Now, since I can't fully remember all the details of the story, I'm going to say GOD whispered to the father, who then told his son, "REACH BEYOND THE BREAK!" "REACH BEYOND THE BREAK, AND HOLD ON!"

I was reminded of this story this week, as I thought about the impending trails that befall us...DAILY; those breaks in the rope of hope. We've got to stregthen our reach.

I started this fitness challenge early this month and the process included a "Reach" Test, where I had to sit on the floor and streeeeeetch my back and arms as much as I could in order to measure my reach on this yard stick. NOW, that was just the begining...that was to see where I STARTED! The challenge is 8 weeks long and we're in the third week, but within the next 5 weeks my reach should have improved; my back should be stronger and my arms should reach longer.

Life will have some things to test you, and the world may seem to be drowning you and even when there appears to be a "Rope of Hope" to refresh you...to encourage you...to push you further, Please don't get discouraged whn you notice a break in the rope...please don't feel like..."I just can never get a "break." Please don't feel like God's got it out for you...just make sure your back is strong and your arms are long then Reach Beyond The Break, and Hold On (Until you change comes)!

I just can't go it alone, so here's a lil word from one of my favorite Rev's, Clay Evans:

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

To piggyback off of yesterday's post (I should have shared this then). Anyway, the above is a sketched picture of Sara Baartman aka "The Hottentot Venus"

The name 'Hottentot' is derived from a Dutch word meaning 'stammerer'; it was applied to Southern Africa's Khoikhoi people as early as the 17th century, apparently in reference to the Khoikhoi and Khoisan (a related people, often referred to as 'Bushmen' [as in The Gods Must Be Crazy] language, which is distinguished by clicking sounds. By the 18th century, 'Hottentot' had been generalized as a synonym for ignorant, non-white people. The 'Hottentots' put up fierce resistance to the earliest European explorers, the Portuguese, and were subsequently labeled 'cannibals.' During the Boer land grab in South Africa they first provided supplies for Dutch ships, then fought with the Boers when the European expansionist project became clear. Defeated, they became servants and laborers.

The best known outrage against the 'Hottentots' was the European exhibition of a Khoikhoi woman, Saartjie Baartman, who was advertised as "The Hottentot Venus."

Saartje (Sara) Baartman(1789-1816)

She was exhibited as a freak against white ideals of superiority and sexuality. The European audiences in London and Paris found her steatopygia (protruding buttocks) particularly fascinating, as it 'proved' current medical/anthropological ideas about the sexual lasciviousness and animality of African women.

Prancing in the nude, with her jutting posterior and extraordinary genitals, she provided the foundation for racist and pseudo-scientific theories regarding black inferiority and black female sexuality. The shows involved Saartje being "led by her keeper and exhibited like a wild beast, being obliged to walk, stand or sit as ordered." Saartje's predicament drew the attention of a young Jamaican, Robert Wedderburn, who agitated against slavery and racism. Subsequently, his group pressured the attorney general to stop this circus. Losing the case on a technicality, Saartje spent four years in London and then went to Paris where she was exhibited in a travelling circus, and seen frequently controlled by an animal trainer in the show.

Upon her death in 1815 (after five years of degrading exhibition touring, an autopsy was performed and her genitals (interesting for the 'Hottentot apron,' a ceremonially undertaken manipulation of the labia and nymphae, which Europeans read as a natural sign of deviance) and buttocks were preserved for 'scientific' display (according to Sander Gilman,'s "Black Bodies, White Bodies: Toward an Iconography of Female Sexuality in Late Nineteenth-Century Art, Medicine, and Literature," Critical Inquiry 12 (1985) 204-242, they are still on display in Paris's Musée de l'Homme).

In post-apartheid South Africa, efforts were made to retrieve Saartje's remains. In 1994, then-President Nelson Mandela appealed to his French counterpart, but it was not until 2002 that the French Senate approved a bill for repatriation of Saartje's remains to South Africa. In May 2002, her remains were brought home to South Africa after nearly 200 years of humiliation and abuse. In August 2002, she was finally laid to rest in the Eastern Cape.

Something to think about in regard to the ponderings of the previous post!

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Ok...I'm sure we alll know who Buffy the Body is (I hate her)...lol, just kidding, but MAN, the Power of the Big Butt! This woman has become a 'STAR' just because she has a Big Butt. I mean seriously, are they really THAT special?

Well, I was taking a lil survey and turns out YEAH... they are that special, but pretty much only to Black and some Hispanic men. Seriously...I introduced Buffy, via photographs and video to several Black and Hispanic men and they all had the same 'tore up face' reaction...followed by a deep breath - to get out that 'DAMNNNN' (pigs) lol...sorry fella's.

They were mesmerized...like they'd been touched by an angle (of sorts). This reaction was to be expected, but since every survey needs a control...I asked/showed the same thing to some non-Black or Hispanic men, and most of them felt that was "too much" their words were met with a nod of rejection, which was also anticipated.

The following video shows a lil taste difference:

Now, my question is WHY do Big Butts have such a physical, mental and emotional effect on our Ethnic Brother's - those Black and Hispanic men?

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Have you ever had the feeling you were being watched??? (just kidding) BUT...

I remember once…ONCE, when I was a CHILD (seriously, I was about seven), and being the quiet, sweet little girl that I was, I was entrusted with the task of hanging the teacher’s coat in the closet (that fool). Anyway, times were hard back then and I’d been feening for a Susie Q snack cake for about a year or so, then one day…I caught THE FEVER!

As I stood on the tips of my toes to reach the hook, visions of ‘sugar-plums’ danced in my head…well it wasn’t really “sugar-plums,” but the sweet taste of all that thick cream (PLEASE GET YA MINDS OUT THE GUTTER…THIS IS NOT A PORN SITE) LOL…NASTY’S! Now, as I’m standing there getting all hot and feverish with anticipation, I hear the faint sound of coins (in the teachers pocket) calling to me ---WHAT? THEY CALLED MY NAME! Me being the quiet sweet girl that I was felt compelled to free them from that London Fog prison (those poor coins).

The dastardly deed was done and I engorged myself with sugary delight, but OH THE CREAM; it just kept calling me and calling me and calling me. I couldn’t fight it off anymore, after all, I was just a little girl (of 18…hahah…just kidding). So there I was forced to bare the cry of my groining stomach matched only by the jingle of the beckoning coins…AGAIN, CALLING ME (I wasn’t bothering them). The urge was met again, and again, and again.

Now, after sometimes things became a ‘piece of Susie Q cake,’ and I had mastered the art of ‘freeing helpless change victims’ from pockets…heck, I’d even ventured into OTHER teachers pockets (why leave the rest to suffer). Short lived, but long enough the sweet cream train to freedom came to a screeching halt when the teacher caught me going in her wallet (oh, I didn’t tell you guys I stepped up my game a bit). She called my mother right then and there and told her of about TWO other times she’d seen me going in the coat pockets (that sneaky B didn’t even say anything). Needless to say, my mother beat the cream outta me and I NEVER stole again (that week).

Monday, September 17, 2007

The rain was made for you to pour on me; and I take it in blissfullyDrowning in youThe ruiner of my sleep causing my heart to wake with an ache

Still you cross my mind.

Raisins in the sun; you are my sweet potato pie.My body is weak because of you; causing decay within my meYou’ve made my mind stop thinking and my eyes stop blinking.I want nothing of you, yet, all you are, I love.

No matter the ways I spend my timeYou just keep crossing my mind

POISON!!!

Wasting my day with thoughts of youWishing I never knew what I was missing.This nightmare is my fantasyAnd I await you amore

Addicted to what I can’t controlYou’re lost within my soul and I bury you deeper within

POISON!!!Polluting me, Tainting me, Corrupting meI run fast from you only to find even there

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

HELLO BOYS AND GIRLS!!!!! Well it's been a while at the new jizzob and I must say...things have turned out a lil better then I'd expected.

For starters, I went from a small office (having my own office) and being the only black person (in sight) to being in a large office (taking up a whole floor) and working with mostly black people (in a cube).

When I interviewed for the job, my first impression of the people wasn't good. They didn't seem very friendly at all and I thought, "great, black people with nasty attitudes - division.' I actually felt a little reluctant to deal with that aspect of things, but went on ahead anyway. For those who don't know...I'm in advertising, sales to be exact, so not only did I expect these people to be distant and mean, but VERY territorial, as expected from most sales people. I can say, that I was pleasent surprised by how nice some of the people have been thus far, with few exceptions.

The training process is very thourough, which is a wonderful thing. There have been so many artist in the office this past week (Hip-Hop)which I'm not really into, but oh well. Last Friday we had our annual Fun Day in the park with my favorite things FOOODDDDD!!! Well anyway, I've been busy as a bee and can't get online at work, but since my laptop is working now...I'll be doing some catching up on this over the weekend.

I pray things have been well with everyone...I'll see you guys and gals lata.

I did this post about a week ago, but got busy and couldn't post it. PARTIES, PARTIES AND MORE PARTIES...man, I'm TOO old for this...hahah.

Well...here's a random question for you guys:

What would a dear friend have to do for you to stop speaking to them? If this has already happened to you...then please share!